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This Trace Elliot ELF never ceases to amaze me!!!!


Mike Bungo

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3 years ago I was interested in what the Elf claimed to be and I deliberated about buying one for over 12 months. In the end I thought "what the hell, buy one and if it's not right then send it back!"

 

I bought it and it never went back. I use it to practice with a loud 80's band and it just blows me away every time I use it. It sounds ace, it's loud and fits into the pocket of my bass case and I carry it

as a back up for for TC Electronic RH750...... To date I've never needed to use it for an amp failure but I'm quite confident that it would deliver if plugged into my 2 RS112 cabs. It also appears in many

Top 10 Amp Reviews up against some amazing well established competition 

 

Has anyone gigged with one ? and on a slightly different note has anyone got any experience with the Warwick Gnome i-Pro??????  

 

Mike :)

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They are really good little things aren’t they.
 

I’ve gigged one in a loud rock band with no PA support, and it coped through a single, albeit high end, 12” driver (Barefaced Super Compact, 8 ohms). There was no headroom left at all and it was getting a bit squishy with the in built limiting and compression but it handled it.

 

A week or so back I A/B’d it with my 1000W Glock. To a degree it did surprisingly well but the Glock had more authority, cleanliness and clarity in the lows, which you’d expect.

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I have an Elf as well, and also use it through a Super Compact - simply amazing for such a small piece of kit. It is basically my back-up to my Orange LBT, but I have played several gigs with it.

It has a very low current consumption, so have been able to play outdoor rehearsals and gigs with it powered by a 12 volt battery and inverter.

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I've not tried the Elf but I have the Warwick Gnome IPro as my back up amp and I love it. My main amp is a 550w Ashdown Mibass but I've used the Gnome a few times just for a change and it's been absolutely fine and plenty loud enough. Its 300 watts and I run it through my Barefaced Two10.

Edited by Linus27
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I’m on my second Elf. Really didn’t get on with the first one, but since realised it was due the cab I was using at the time. Second one I got in a trade a few months back and paired it with a new and cheap TC208   and instantly fell in love. I then read a lot about the Barefaced One too…the rest as they say is sweet history and my back loves it too 😊

EB7C66C7-C826-4295-9443-707D2562108C.thumb.jpeg.2c473eaaa27904a253934ffdb1d5653a.jpeg

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Just picked one up on a local adverts website for a great price and I must say I'm very impressed at how loud this thing gets and how good the sound is out of it. My main gigging amps are an Ashdown Spyder 550 and a 'portable' Ashdown little bastard, I also possessed an Ashdown CTM100 until about 2 weeks ago but moved it on as it was gathering cobwebs. Needless to say my current steed of amps weren't exactly lightweight and I was looking for something handy for playing in small living rooms and tight corners in cafes.

 

I still think I prefer the sound from the Ashdowns and my Spyder will remain my main amp, but the Elf will definitely come in very handy. My only tiny gripe if the fan noise, again not the loudest I've heard (looking at you 1st gen Orange Terror Bass! ) but its definitely 'there' at low volumes. For a budget Class-D micro amp though it's very very impressive and small things like that are just something you have to get over.               

Edited by Quilly
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I've gigged mine quite frequently with two bands. Neither band is offensively loud, but both go through the PA anyway so the Elf is just for backline.

 

Superb piece of kit, sounds just great, never lets me down, ludicrously small. Particularly handy for rehearsals in unfamiliar studios, where you never know until you get there what monstrosity is being passed off as a 'bass amp'.

 

I like mine so much that, earlier today, I posted a Wanted ad for the Elf 10" combo.

 

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On 25/04/2022 at 16:10, Mike Bungo said:

3 years ago I was interested in what the Elf claimed to be and I deliberated about buying one for over 12 months. In the end I thought "what the hell, buy one and if it's not right then send it back!"

 

I bought it and it never went back. I use it to practice with a loud 80's band and it just blows me away every time I use it. It sounds ace, it's loud and fits into the pocket of my bass case and I carry it

as a back up for for TC Electronic RH750...... To date I've never needed to use it for an amp failure but I'm quite confident that it would deliver if plugged into my 2 RS112 cabs. It also appears in many

Top 10 Amp Reviews up against some amazing well established competition 

 

Has anyone gigged with one ? and on a slightly different note has anyone got any experience with the Warwick Gnome i-Pro??????  

 

Mike :)

Yes indeed. I have gigged mine in a couple of bands. Into a couple of mismatched  speakers (a 1x12 and a 2x8) it filled the pubs with bass and never missed a beat. 

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23 hours ago, Raslee said:

I’m on my second Elf. Really didn’t get on with the first one, but since realised it was due the cab I was using at the time. Second one I got in a trade a few months back and paired it with a new and cheap TC208   and instantly fell in love. I then read a lot about the Barefaced One too…the rest as they say is sweet history and my back loves it too 😊

EB7C66C7-C826-4295-9443-707D2562108C.thumb.jpeg.2c473eaaa27904a253934ffdb1d5653a.jpeg

Almost exactly my set up but a Midget 12" rather than a one 10

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I have 2 ELFs. One for living room practice at home with a Markbass 102P. One in my work flat with a TE 2X8. Both sound great. Was looking forward to their next products but it turns out, sadly, they've not continued the small-and-light theme.

Edited by TrevorG
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  • 1 month later...

After sending a TC Bam200 back for overheating problems.

 

I got an ELF.  I used last night at a small bar/tavern.  I got it for a backup for my twin GK MB-200 stereo rig.  
The ELV sounded nice with lot of headroom and punched through pretty good into the mix.

 

 

EAC60BEA-7CBD-44B7-A07D-3CA848201855.jpeg

Edited by stereoplayer
Typo
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On 25/04/2022 at 16:10, Mike Bungo said:

3 years ago I was interested in what the Elf claimed to be and I deliberated about buying one for over 12 months. In the end I thought "what the hell, buy one and if it's not right then send it back!"

 

I bought it and it never went back. I use it to practice with a loud 80's band and it just blows me away every time I use it. It sounds ace, it's loud and fits into the pocket of my bass case and I carry it

as a back up for for TC Electronic RH750...... To date I've never needed to use it for an amp failure but I'm quite confident that it would deliver if plugged into my 2 RS112 cabs. It also appears in many

Top 10 Amp Reviews up against some amazing well established competition 

 

Has anyone gigged with one ? and on a slightly different note has anyone got any experience with the Warwick Gnome i-Pro??????  

 

Mike :)

Yep. Gigged mine to great effect. Wonderful piece of kit. Never tried a gnome though

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I had an old 215 Schroeder cab in the practice place , one of the 15”drivers was a basic Thomann brand woofer nothing fancy, brought the elf in the gig bag due to laziness. So much volume from this thing ! . I dunno how they do it with a 200w class D amp. On paper it should be a very mediocre piece of kit and it sounds terrific . Heaps of headspace left. 

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Just now, Quilly said:

I had an old 215 Schroeder cab in the practice place , one of the 15”drivers was a basic Thomann brand woofer nothing fancy, brought the elf in the gig bag due to laziness. So much volume from this thing ! . I dunno how they do it with a 200w class D amp. On paper it should be a very mediocre piece of kit and it sounds terrific . Heaps of headspace left. 

 

169E6DEE-F8D4-4E80-9C2A-E83A0878F9C2.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Used mine through a Barefaced Midget on Thursday. As the title of this thread says - it never ceases to amaze me.

Running at 8ohm, into quite a big space, with a loud drummer, I had room to spare.

And it sounds amazing too.

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Tom Bowlus and I created this mammoth Trace Elliot (Elf) review for Basss Gear Magazine for this who'd like to know a bit more about the lil Elves! 

 

https://www.bassgearmag.com/elvish-appetizer-trace-elliot-elf-bass-head-elf-1x10-combo-elf-2x8-cab-elf-1x10-cab-and-transit-b-bass-preamp/

 

I'm allowed to be honest about my review kit, so I can happily report that I loved the Elf head - and when I have some cash I'll probably buy one for myself! 

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The 110 came in the post from Thomann today . I can’t  wait to play a gig with this rig . I initially thought this would only be suitable for small acoustic types of gigs but the power is unreal from this thing.

04099AE5-6C0F-4BBE-B93A-80087E8993D8.jpeg

Edited by Quilly
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On 18/07/2022 at 20:26, Quilly said:

The 110 came in the post from Thomann today . I can’t  wait to play a gig with this rig . I initially thought this would only be suitable for small acoustic types of gigs but the power is unreal from this thing.

04099AE5-6C0F-4BBE-B93A-80087E8993D8.jpeg

Excited to hear how you get on. I mustard mitt the 2 x 8 is whispering in my ear. I see one, possibly two, in my future.

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37 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Excited to hear how you get on. I mustard mitt the 2 x 8 is whispering in my ear. I see one, possibly two, in my future.

I nearly got one of those , saw one in Belgium for €400 on reverb. 
 

 

Edited by Quilly
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